Former World Heavyweight Champion Gunther recently laid out a clear vision for his WWE future — and it's built around three names: Ilja Dragunov, Bron Breakker, and Oba Femi.
Speaking on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes, the 'Ring General' articulated exactly where he wants to be in the company and who he wants to face once he gets there.
There's like a Roman that was here for long and Brock that held that spot for such a long time. I feel like where I want to get to is — be able to get into that spot. But then wrestle Ilja in that position. Have great matches with Bron down the line. Have great matches with Oba. There's many more of them. I want to be the guy that is gonna be able to wrestle all of them, have great matches with all of them.
Gunther was candid that his ambition isn't to be the face of the company in the same all-encompassing way as those who came before him. He sees his ideal role as something different — and he told Cody directly that he admires him for the parts of the job he knows he couldn't do himself.
I don't have that in me to be wanting to be the guy that is at the very mountaintop and everybody looks up to him. I admire you sometimes for what you do because I couldn't, man. I wanna be at the top, but in a different role and contribute that way.
The list of dream opponents isn't random. Gunther and Dragunov share a deep history going back to their days together in wXw, and their rivalry was cut short last year when Ilja suffered a torn ACL. Dragunov has since returned and won the United States Championship on SmackDown.
Breakker is one of the most physically dominant young talents in WWE, while Femi has made a strong impression since moving to the main roster full-time earlier this year.
Gunther also addressed what he sees as the fundamental truth about working at the top of the card: it takes two to make a marquee moment, and he's comfortable acknowledging that.
The marquee says two names. John Cena's retirement match wasn't against nobody. We are relying on one another. However you do it, different or not — good luck to you and I look forward to it.
With WrestleMania 42 approaching, the Road to the Grandest Stage of Them All is still taking shape — and Gunther appears eager to make the most of wherever it leads.
